For many college students, being short on money and being away from home presents a dangerous temptation: credit cards. Kandace Barker, a freshman public relations major at Howard University, said shopping with credit cards made her feel as though she could still buy clothes even if she didn't have money. Barker has credit cards from New York and Company and Victoria's Secret, where she used to work. Along with the debt from the two cards, Barker faces thousands of dollars in student loans after graduating. She is currently about $9,000 in debt. "I think before I was an impulse shopper, but now I can't be. That's why I have so much debt ... especially at Victoria's Secret," said Barker. ... http://i.a.cnn.net

A court ordered public broadcaster NHK and two production companies to pay damages to a women's rights group for altering a news program on Japanese sex slavery during World War II after alleged pressure from politicians, officials said Monday. The Tokyo High Court acknowledged claims by the women's group VAWW-NET Japan that NHK altered a program about a mock international tribunal on Japanese sex slavery after protests from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was then deputy chief Cabinet secretary, and ruling party heavyweight Shoichi Nakagawa, a high court official said on condition of anonymity, citing protocol. The defendants were ordered to pay $16,420 to the women's group. ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2831587

Germany has agreed a deal to phase out the heavily-subsidised coal mining industry in the country. No date has been set yet for ending the subsidies to the industry, but they are widely expected to finish in 2018. German coal mines have been receiving up to 2.5bn euros ($3.2bn; £1.65bn) annually in subsidies from the federal and regional governments. Germany's eight coal mines employ 36,900 people, and produced about 21 million tonnes of coal last year. 'No redundancies' The deal to phase out subsidies was agreed by the Social Democrats and Christian Democrats, and the heads of the two parties will discuss the proposal later. Federal Economy Minister Michael Glos said the plan would not involve any operational redundancies. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6309841.stm

The International Criminal Court on Monday ordered an alleged Congolese warlord to be tried on charges he recruited child soldiers and sent them into battle, making him the first suspect to stand trial at the permanent war crimes court. The evidence against Thomas Lubanga was strong enough to "establish substantial grounds to believe" that he was responsible "for war crimes consisting of enlisting and conscripting children under the age of 15," said presiding judge Claude Jorda of France. The children were forced to take part in armed conflicts, the three-judge panel found, issuing its findings from a preliminary hearing in November. Lubanga faces three charges of recruiting and deploying child soldiers in the bloody conflict in the Ituri region of eastern Congo in 2002-03. If convicted, he faces a maximum life sentence. ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2831581

The European Union has confirmed that the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has been found on a farm in Hungary. A spokesman said tests at the EU's approved laboratory in Weybridge, south of London, had confirmed the results announced by Hungary last week. A flock of 3,000 geese on the infected farm near Szentes in southern Hungary has been destroyed. It is the EU's first case of bird flu for about six months. Hungary alerted the EU last week after it detected the outbreak. The virus first appeared in the country in February last year in wild geese, swans and domestic poultry. The current tests were carried out after an abnormally high mortality rate was reported in the flock of geese. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6310029.stm

Lawmakers convicted of crimes such as bribery, fraud and perjury will be stripped of their congressional pensions under legislation the House passed yesterday in the latest effort by Congress to refurbish its scandal-scarred image. The House voted 431-0 four days after former Rep. Bob Ney, Ohio Republican, received a 30-month prison term for taking political favors from Jack Abramoff, the disgraced lobbyist whose influence-peddling tactics helped make political corruption a major issue in the November elections. Ney, as chairman of the House Administration Committee, last year backed similar legislation, saying members of Congress should be held to the highest standards. "But that bill never passed, for which Congressman Ney is probably grateful," said freshman Rep. Nancy Boyda, Kansas Democrat and sponsor of the latest measure. "Corrupt politicians deserve prison sentences, not taxpayer-funded pensions."...http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20070123-110047-1087r.htm